Covering Tattoos

[Stewart1990]

I have one tattoo, in no way offensive, right below my elbow on the inside of my left forearm. I know all dress codes are not the same, but I'm looking for some input so I know wha tto expect. Would I have to constantly wear 3/4 sleeve underarmour? would cosmetic covering be suffice? All input is welcomed.

Update: Bad pic, but for the inevitable 'where exactly is it/what does it look like' quesstion..

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

Post a pic of it if it is not offensive that way we can see what we are talking about!

 

[Stewart1990]

I put the picture up

 

[Ridryder911]

Offensive that you have one. Sorry, want to work in EMS in my area, expect long sleeves all the time. It is called professional demeanor. The same with body piercings and other non-uniformity type of professional dress (mohawk, extreme dyed hair).

R/r 911

 

[Stewart1990]

I am hoping that if i cover it, with concealer or some other cosmetic, I will fly under the radar for a while before anyone notices. It's my only one, and looking back the placement could have been alot better (aka easy to cover). But it's there now, and its not moving for anybody. I'm trying to figure out how to work with it.

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

Disclaimer: I am not a tattoo person. Don't understand them, but to each his/her own.

I don't find the tattoo offensive and don't see a real problem. But it depends on where you work at, really. In r/r911's neck of teh woods, apparentyl, you had better cover it up. In my county, probably not a problem. when I worked Ambulance, the companies policy was very strict on dress and grooming, but even they saw piercings ans tattoos as a personal choice. Maybe it affected their hiring proccess a bit, but once on board, as long as it wasn't vulgur, then so be it. The Ambulance service where I'm at has the most lax standards I know and would probably want to know why I am not inked up with a dragon on my neck. SAR, likewise doesn't really seem to care.

Cover it up for the hiring proccess if you want to skate past any tattoo questions. but, if you want to be an honest EMT, be straight forward with it, don' hide it, and see what happens. Like all jobs, some employers mught be offended and sme "no way", others will be offedned and tell you to cover it while at work, and others will compare tats with you and bingo... you are hired. DEPENDS, but I'm not offended. Hell I once hired a 20 year old EMT for the Snow Park who had 3 piercings in his lips, three on each ear, and a mural on his arm. "Take the studs/rings out when you are here!"

 

[Stewart1990]

I'm hoping to keep it under the radar as much as possible. I don't have any other tattoos or piercings (besides ears), have an outrageous hairstyle/color or anything else like that. As much as I understand that desire for uniformity, I don't want to be held back from persuing a career in EMS because when I was 18 i got my significant other's initials on my arm.

Cross my fingers and hope for the best

 

[nomofica]

Offensive that you have one. Sorry, want to work in EMS in my area, expect long sleeves all the time. It is called professional demeanor. The same with body piercings and other non-uniformity type of professional dress (mohawk, extreme dyed hair).

R/r 911

I've seen EMS personnel with stretched ear lobes (largest I've seen was a 00 gauge plug).

I saw a tan-coloured sleeve the other day that covers any tattoos on your arms. Coloured like skin and covers the areas exposed from your uniform. Ones for legs, forearms, upper arms... They were pretty neat. I'm going to have to get one after I get the Staff of Ascepius tattooed onto the inside part of my forearm.

 

[Aidey]

There are a variety of options available for covering tattoos. You could wear long sleeves, get a partial sleeve that just covers the tattoo, wear something like a plain sweat band, or even use a large rectangle band aid.

Makeup honestly isn't a great idea since you will be washing your hands and arms a lot. You'll end up washing it off and having to reapply it multiple times a day.

 

[Stewart1990]

yeah, im going to try to go with whats easiest. at least whats more sensible/practical.

 

[paemt08]

Tatoos showing is not professional, so even if you agency doesn't require them to be covered, you might want to consider covering it. Most everyone would definately say that wearing a t-shirt with whatever your tatoo is on it would be very unprofessional, and so is the tatoo on your skin...just because it's on your skin doesn't make it any more unprofessional than something like it on a t-shirt.

We're not allowed any tatoos showing, or any extreme hairstyles/colors and no long hair on guys and long hair on girls must be pulled back and up neatly.

 

[Aidey]

Oh, and just to add, can we please not turn this into a debate about what is unprofessional/offensive etc? The OP wants advice on how to cover them, not our opinions about how professional they are.

 

[Stewart1990]

Oh, and just to add, can we please not turn this into a debate about what is unprofessional/offensive etc? The OP wants advice on how to cover them, not our opinions about how professional they are.

Thank you!

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

Oh, and just to add, can we please not turn this into a debate about what is unprofessional/offensive etc? The OP wants advice on how to cover them, not our opinions about how professional they are.

Actually, the orginal post from Stewie said, "but I'm looking for some input so I know what to expect." Well, Stewie, this is the kind of reaction to expect from most. While I don't have much problem with it, obviously others do. So take the various suggestions for masking the tat and for the love of god: if someone wants to brand you with their name again, place it somewhere where no employeers, coworkers, or patients can see it! ^_^

 

[Stewart1990]

Actually, the orginal post from Stewie said, "but I'm looking for some input so I know what to expect." Well, Stewie, this is the kind of reaction to expect from most. While I don't have much problem with it, obviously others do. So take the various suggestions for masking the tat and for the love of god: if someone wants to brand you with their name again, place it somewhere where no employeers, coworkers, or patients can see it! ^_^

(Starts searching for one of those places....)
*eyes narrow* heyyyy!
(found one of those places)

 

[Mountain Res-Q]

(Starts searching for one of those places....)
*eyes narrow* heyyyy!
(found one of those places)

You can forgo posting a pic of that one. ^_^

 

[Stewart1990]

i'll get right on that! lmao

 

[Sapphyre]

Stewart,
Where I work, no visible tattoos. If it can't be covered with the standard uniform, you wear long sleeves year round. Some of us get around it by wearing longer sleeve Underarmours (or similar) or wearing tennis elbow bands, or similar. Um, haven't found anyone that got around it using a sweat band so high up.

Stay away from the makeup, and, the bandaid idea probably isn't the best either.

For what it's worth, I've got ink, but, it's covered in the standard uniform...

 

[Aidey]

Tennis elbow band! That is actually what I was thinking of, I just couldn't remember the name of it.

 

[TransportJockey]

You'd have to cover it here. One of the reasons that all three of mine I made sure would be covered when wearing a short sleeve shirt